Method for obtaining ue counting result, method and apparatus for suspending data transmission

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for obtaining a UE counting result. The method includes: if a UE receives a UE counting message and a service corresponding to a service identifier comprised in the UE counting message is a GCSE service transmitted via a MBMS carrier, establishing, by the UE, a RRC connection; sending a UE counting response via the RRC connection; or, sending, by the UE, a RRC establishing message, and configuring a reason of establishing the RRC as MBMS UE counting. The present invention also provides a method for obtaining a UE counting result, a method and apparatus for suspending data transmission. By using the present invention, when the UE needs to receive the GCSE service, the MCE may obtain a correct counting result and not make wrong decision no matter whether the UE is in the RRC connected mode or in the idle mode. Therefore, the UE does not need to establish the point-to-point channel, and interruption of the data transmission and unnecessary power consumption are avoided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to radio communication technologies, moreparticularly to, a method for obtaining a UE counting result, a methodand apparatus for suspending data transmission.

BACKGROUND ART

Currently, mobile communication technologies tend to provide high-ratemultimedia services increasingly. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagramillustrating a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

In FIG. 1, a User Equipment (UE) 101 is a terminal device for receivingdata. An Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)102 is a radio access network which includes an eNodeB/NodeB forproviding a radio network interface for the UE. A Mobile ManagementEntity (MME) 103 is adapted to manage mobility contexts, sessioncontexts and security information of the UE. A Serving Gateway (SGW) 104is adapted to provide functions of a subscriber plane. The MME 103 andthe SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. A Packet Gateway (PGW)105 is adapted to implement charging and legal monitoring functions. ThePGW 105 and the SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. A Policy andCharging Rules Function (PCRF) 106 is adapted to provide QoS policiesand charging rules. A Service GPRS Supporting Node (SGSN) 108 is anetwork node device for providing routing for data transmission in aUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). A Home SubscriberServer (HSS) 109 is a home sub-system of the UE and is adapted toprotect UE information including the current location of the UE, theaddress of a serving node, UE security information and packet datacontexts of the UE.

Group communication services are to provide a quick and effectivemechanism to send same data to UEs in a group. The concept of the groupcommunication is fully used in Land Mobile Radio (LMR) of a publicsecurity organization. One of the typical applications is a “Push toTalk (PTT)” function. When the group communication services areintroduced to the LTE, the group communication service of the LTE needsto support at least the PTT voice communication which has similarperformances as the PTT in the conventional group communication service.The group communication service of the SAE needs to support UEs ofdifferent states and different environments of the UEs. The LTE performsdata transmission with broad bands, and thus the group communicationservice of the LTE needs to support data communications, such as voicecommunications and video communications.

In Group Call System Enabler (GCSE) of the LTE, functions of anapplication layer are introduced to 3GPP to support the groupcommunication. UEs of the LTE are divided into different groups, and oneUE may belong to one or multiple different GCSE groups. In the GCSEgroup, the UE needing to receive GCSE service data is called a receivinggroup member, and the UE sending the GCSE service data is called asending group member. The group communication refers to thecommunication between the receiving group member and the sending groupmember. In addition, it is also needed to support communications betweenthe UE and multiple groups at the same time. For example, the UE mayperform communications of the voice service with one group and performcommunications of the video service or other data service with anothergroup.

In order to fully utilize air interface resources, when multiple UEsneed to receive data of the same service, a broadcast and multicast modewhich is called Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) may beused. Each MBMS carrier provides services in a service area of the MBMScarrier. In each cell of the service area, a specific MCCH is used totransmit MBMS signaling. BM-SC is a center for providing the MBMS, andthe MBMS data is sent from the BM-SC to an MBMS-GW. The MBMS-GW, whichis a logic node or another network node, is located between the BM-SCand an eNB and is used to send/broadcast the MBMS data to each eNBneeding to transmit data. The MBMS-GW sends a data packet to acorresponding eNB, and the eNB sends data to the UE. Control signalingis sent from the BM-SC to the MBMS-GW, and then is sent to the EUTRANvia a MME. The MCE, which is a node of the EUTRAN, is to receive theMBMS signaling, decide to use a MBSFN transmission mode and sendsignaling to the corresponding eNB. FIG. 2 shows a structure of aneMBMS. The MCE may be a separate node, or located together with the eNB.The MBMS of the LTE is called eMBMS for short.

The eMBMS may be transmitted in a single carrier cell, different cellsuse different carriers, and the UE at the edge of the cell may receiveonly the MBMS of the current cell. However, if adjacent cells transmitthe same MBMS service by using the same carrier and transmit the MBMS ina synchronized way, the UE at the edge of the adjacent cell may receivea superposition of powers the two signals. Therefore, a continuous areais defined in conventional technologies. In the continuous area, eacheNB uses the same carrier to synchronically transmit the same MBMSsignal, so as to improve quality of receiving the MBMS by the UE. Thecontinuous area is called a Single Frequency Network (SFN) area. The SFNarea includes cells corresponding to continuous geography locations, andthe cells use the same radio resources to synchronically transmit acertain MBMS.

The GCSE service may be transmitted via the eMBMS carrier of the LTE.However, the conventional eMBMS technologies can not satisfy therequirements of the GCSE services. For example, the GCSE service needsto establish a data carrier within 300 ms. But in the conventional eMBMStechnologies, the MCE needs to firstly transmit the signaling to alleNBs in the MBSFN, and then the eNB synchronically transmits the MBMScontrol information via an air interface. The time period needed forthis procedure is longer than the time requirements of the GCSE service.Currently, two methods are provided to solve the problem. In one method,the eMBMS carrier is established in advance. In the other method, apoint-to-point carrier is established firstly in the network, data aresent to the receiving group member via the point-to-point carrier, atthe same time, the network starts to establish the eMBMS carrier. Afterthe eMBMS carrier is established successfully, the data are sent to thereceiving group member via the eMBMS carrier. During a certain timeperiod, the data are sent via both the point-to-point carrier and theeMBMS carrier.

Although the above methods solve the problem of the time delay when thecarrier is established, the applicant of the present inventiondiscovered that one problem is still to be solved. The current eMBMSsystem is used to send the MBMS only. After the service is started, theMCE may count the number of UEs and decide to suspend or restore datatransmission according to the number of the UEs. Specifically, when thenumber of the UEs in an RRC connected mode is smaller than a threshold,the MCE decides to suspend the data transmission to save air interfaceresources and reduce power consumption of the UE. The MCE notifies theeNB to stop sending the control signaling of the eMBMS. In this way, theUE cannot receive the control signaling and the data of the eMBMS. Whenthe eMBMS system is used to transmit the GCSE service, if the UE cannotreceive the control signaling of the GSCE service and the UE still needsto receive the GCSE service, the UE has to establish the point-to-pointchannel for the GCSE service, and the UE cannot receive data in theprocedure of establishing the point-to-point channel, thus datatransmission is interrupted.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In order to solve the above technology problem, several methods areprovided by the present invention to enhance the current procedure ofobtaining a UE counting result, so that when the UE needs to receive theeMBMS, the MCE may obtain the correct counting result and not make wrongdecision no matter whether the UE is in the RRC connected mode or in theidle mode. Therefore, it is unnecessary for the UE to establish thepoint-to-point channel, and interruption of the data transmission andunnecessary power consumption are avoided.

Solution to Problem

The present invention provides a method, apparatus and system forsupporting group service transmission and obtaining a UE countingresult, so as to decrease data loss, reduce delay of establishing a datacarrier and power consuming of the UE, and improve utilization of theair interface resources.

A method for obtaining a UE counting result includes:

if a UE receives a UE counting message and a service corresponding to aservice identifier comprised in the UE counting message is a GCSEservice transmitted via a MBMS carrier,

establishing, by the UE, a RRC connection; sending a UE countingresponse via the

RRC connection;

or, sending, by the UE, a RRC establishing message, and configuring areason of establishing the RRC as MBMS UE counting.

Preferably, the UE is in an idle mode.

An apparatus includes: a receiving module, a sending module, a two-layerprotocol module, and an application layer module; wherein

the application layer module is to, when determining that a GCSE serviceis transmitted via a MBMS carrier, instruct the two-layer protocolmodule to response a UE counting message;

the receiving module is to send a received UE counting message to thetwo-layer protocol module;

the two-layer protocol module is to parse the UE counting message;generate a RRC establishing message according to the instruction of theapplication layer module, and generate a UE counting response after aRRC connection is established; or the two-layer protocol module is toparse the UE counting message; generate a RRC establishing messageaccording to the instruction of the application layer module, andconfigure a reason of establishing the RRC as MBMS UE counting;

the sending module is to send the message generated by the two-layerprotocol module to an air interface.

An apparatus includes: a receiving module, a sending module, a two-layerprotocol module, and an application layer module; wherein

the receiving module is to send a received UE counting message to thetwo-layer protocol module;

the two-layer protocol module is to parse the UE counting message; senda service identifier in the UE counting message to the application layermodule;

the application layer module is to, when determining a servicecorresponding to the service identifier is a GCSE service transmittedvia a MBMS carrier, instruct the two-layer protocol module to responsethe UE counting message;

the two-layer protocol module is further to generate a RRC establishingmessage according to the instruction of the application layer module,generate a UE counting response after a RRC connection is established;or the two-layer protocol module is further to generate a RRCestablishing message according to the instruction of the applicationlayer module; and configure a reason of establishing the RRC as MBMS UEcounting;

the sending module is to send the message generated by the two-layerprotocol module to an air interface.

A method for obtaining a UE counting result, applied for supportingcontinuous transmission of a group service includes:

receiving, by an eNB, a UE counting message comprising indicationinformation indicating it is needed to count the number of UEs in anidle mode;

sending, by the eNB, the UE counting message comprising the indicationinformation;

receiving, by the eNB, a counting response message;

sending, by the eNB, the counting response message.

Preferably, a UE counting result of UEs in an RRC connected mode and UEsin an idle mode are obtained;

the counting response messages received by the eNB are sent by the UEsin the RRC connected mode and the UEs in the idle mode.

Preferably, a UE counting result of UEs in an idle mode are obtained;

the counting response messages received by the eNB are sent by the UEsin the idle mode.

Preferably, for the UE in the idle mode, receiving, by the eNB, thecounting response message comprises:

receiving a UE counting response via an established RRC connection;

or, receiving a RRC establishing message, a reason of establishing theRRC in the RRC establishing message being MBMS UE counting.

A method for suspending data transmission, applied for supportingcontinuous transmission of a group service includes:

receiving, by an eNB, a message, the message comprising a suspendindication and a service identifier; the suspend indication and theservice identifier being used to indicate that data transmission of aservice corresponding to the service identifier is to be suspended;

sending, by the eNB, the message comprising the suspend indication andthe service identifier; initiating, by a UE needing to continuouslyreceiving service data corresponding to the service identifier, aprocedure of establishing a point-to-point carrier;

stopping, by the eNB, sending the data service at a preset time point.

Preferably, the message further comprises time information indicating amodification period, a SFN or a time point from which the datatransmission is suspended.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As can be seen from the above technical solutions, in the technicalsolutions for supporting group service transmission and obtaining a UEcounting result provided by the present invention, the MCE notifies theeNB to obtain the UE counting result of the UEs in the idle mode, or theUEs in the idle mode sends the UE counting response, or when suspendingthe data transmission, the MCE notifies the eNB and the UE and the dataare transmitted for a certain time period, during this time period, thepoint-to-point carrier may be established by the UE. According to thetechnical solutions of the present invention, when the UE needs toreceive the eMBMS, the MCE may obtain the correct counting result andnot make wrong decision no matter whether the UE is in the RRC connectedmode or in the idle mode. Therefore, the UE does not need to establishthe point-to-point channel, and the interruption of the datatransmission and unnecessary power consumption are avoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional LTE system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional eMBMS.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating signaling for obtaining a UE countingresult according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining a UE countingresult according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining a UE countingresult according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for suspending datatransmission according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an UE according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

In order to make the object, technical solution and merits of thepresent invention clearer, the present invention will be illustrated indetail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings andspecific examples.

The main idea of the present invention is as follows. When needing toobtain a UE counting result, a MCE decides whether to count the numberof UEs in the idle mode according to the service type of a carried MBMS.If it is needed to count the number of UEs in the idle mode, the MCEobtains the UE counting result of both the UEs in the RRC connected modeand in the idle mode. Or, when it is decided to suspend the datatransmission, the MCE notifies an eNB to delay the action of suspendingthe data transmission for a certain time period. During this timeperiod, if the UE in the idle mode still needs to receive datatransmitted via the original MBMS carrier, a point-to-point carrier maybe established. After the point-to-point carrier is established, the eNBsuspends transmission of the MBMS data and control information.According to the technical solutions of the present invention, data losscaused by changing of the data carriers is decreased, time delay forestablishing the data carrier is reduced, the air interface resources isutilized effectively and power consuming of the UE is saved.

A first embodiment is provided.

In the first embodiment, a signaling flow for obtaining a UE countingresult is described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating signaling for obtaining a UE countingresult according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 3, the signaling flow includes the following processing.

At 301, a MCE sends a UE counting request message to an eNB to notifythe eNB to count the number of the UEs in a MBSFN scope. The messageincludes a MBSFN area identifier and a MBMS service identifier TMGI, andthe message also includes indication information to indicate that theeNB needs to count the number of UEs in an idle mode.

When receiving MBMS data, the UE may be in a RRC connection mode or inthe idle mode. The conventional method for UE counting may be used forthe UEs in the RRC connected mode, but cannot be used for the UEs in theidle mode.

The MCE needs to determine whether need to count the UEs in idle mode.The MCE can determine it based on information carrying in an MBMSSession Start sent by an MME. For example, the MME sends the MBMSSession Start including the MBMS service identifier TMGI, and themessage also indicates that an service carried by the MBMS carrier is aGCSE service.

Alternatively, according to operation maintenance preconfiguration, theMCE knows a certain MBMS service or some MBMS services are the GCSEservice. For example, the MBMS service identifier TMGI corresponding toa group of CSGE services may be configured in advance, and the MCE mayobtain the above information accordingly.

After determining the service needing to count the idle mode UEs, theMCE sends a counting request message including the indicationinformation for the MBMS service needing to count the idle mode UEs.

At 302, the eNB sends a counting request message to the UE. The messageis sent via a MBMS control channel of an air interface, and includesinformation indicating the MBMS service identifier. The UE may determinea MBMS service needing to obtain the number of the UEs according to theinformation included in the message. The message may also includeindication information to indicate the UEs in the idle mode need to becounted. The UEs in the RRC connected mode and the UEs in the idle modereceive control information transmitted via the MBMS control channel.The following processing may be performed when the UE knows that the UEcounting result needs to be obtained.

At 303, the UE sends a counting response to the eNB, which includes thefollowing two cases.

In the first case, the UE is in the RRC connected mode. According to oneembodiment, both the idle mode UEs and RRC connected mode UEs arecounted. In this case, the UE in the RRC connected mode receives themessage sent at 302, obtains the MBMS service identifier TMGI accordingto the information carrying in the message, and then knows the MBMSservice needing the counting. If the UE is interested in the service andneeds to receive the data sent via the MBMS, the UE sends the UEcounting response to the eNB, so as to let the eNB count the UE number.If the message at 302 indicates that only the idle mode UEs are counted,the UE in the RRC connected mode does not make any response.

In the second case, the UE is in the idle mode. After receiving themessage sent at 302, the UE obtains the MBMS service identifier TMGIaccording to the information carrying in the message, and then knows theMBMS service needing the counting result. If the UE is interested in theservice and needs to receive the MBMS service, the UE needs to establisha RRC connection at first and send the UE counting response via the RRCconnection, or the UE needs to adopt a new RRC establishing procedureand send the UE counting response to the eNB in the new RRC establishingprocedure. The above two methods are described as follows.

In the first method, the UE initiates the RRC connection and sends theUE counting response via the RRC connection.

At 304, the UE sends a RRC setup message to the eNB. The messageincludes an UE identifier and a reason of establishing the RRC. Thereason may be configured as a reason defined currently.

At 305, the eNB sends a RRC setup request message to the UE. The messageincludes configuration information for the UE.

At 306, the UE sends a RRC setup response message to the eNB.

At 307, the UE sends a UE counting response to the eNB. The messageincludes the information indicating the MBMS service identifier. Afterreceiving the message, the eNB regards the UE as one of the UEsinterested in the MBMS carrier service.

In the second method, the UE adopts the new RRC establishing procedureand sends the UE counting response to the eNB in the new RRCestablishing procedure. The UE sends a RRC setup message to the eNB. Themessage includes a reason for establishing the RRC, and the reason isfor UE counting. The message also includes information indicating theMBMS service, e.g. TMGI. After receiving the message, the eNB regardsthe UE as one of the UEs interested in the MBMS carrier service, andsends a RRC refusing message to the UE.

At 308, after the procedure of obtaining the counting result isfinished, the eNB reports a counting result to the MCE via a message.The message includes a MBSFN area identifier, the MBMS serviceidentifier TMGI and the number of the UEs. The number of the UEs may bethe number of the UEs in the RRC connected mode, the number of the UEsin the idle mode, or the sum of the number of the UEs in the RRCconnected mode and the number of the UEs in the idle mode.

Thus, the processing at the first embodiment is finished.

A second embodiment is provided.

The first embodiment describes the signaling flow for obtaining the UEcounting result. Several different counting methods may be obtained bycombining the first embodiment with existing counting methods. In onemethod, the RRC connected mode UEs are counted at first, if the numberof the RRC connected mode UEs is smaller than a threshold, then in nextstep, the idle mode UEs are counted. The procedure is described in thesecond embodiments as follows.

At 401, the MCE counts the number of the RRC connected mode UEs who isinterested in the MBMS service. The procedure of obtaining the UEcounting result is the same as the existing counting method.Specifically, the MCE sends a UE counting request message to the eNB,the eNB sends a counting request message to the UE, the UE in the RRCconnected mode sends a UE counting response to the eNB, and the eNBcounts the RRC connected mode UEs in all cells that belongs to therequest MBSFN area and sends the number of the UEs to the MCE.

At 402, it is determined whether the number of the UEs in the RRCconnected mode is smaller than a preset threshold. If the number of theUEs in the RRC connected mode is not smaller than the preset threshold,the processing at 401 is performed later, and counter the RRC connectedmode UEs again when necessary.

If the number of the UEs in the RRC connected mode is smaller than thepreset threshold, processing at 403 is performed.

At 403, the MCE counts the number of the UEs which is in the idle modeand is interest in the MBMS service. In this step, the processing at thefirst embodiment may be performed. The MCE sends the UE counting requestmessage to the eNB, and the message includes the indication informationto indicate that the UEs in idle mode need to be counted. The eNB sendsthe UE counting request message to the UE, and the message includes theindication information to indicate that the UEs in idle mode need to becounted. Only the UEs in the idle mode send the UE counting response tothe eNB. The eNB counts the UEs which is in the idle mode in all cellsthat belongs to the request MBSFN area and sends the number of the UEsto the MCE.

At 404, it is determined by the MCE whether the number of the UEs in theidle mode is smaller than a preset threshold. If the number of the UEsin the idle mode is not smaller than the preset threshold, theprocessing at 401 maybe performed later, the number of the UEs in theRRC connected mode is counted again when necessary.

If the number of the UEs in the idle mode is smaller than the presetthreshold, the processing at 405 is performed. The MCE decides tosuspend the data transmission and sends new MBMS schedule information tothe eNB via a message. The message includes a serial number of amodification period. When a modification period indicated by the serialnumber starts, the eNB sends the new schedule information to the UE. Thenew schedule information does not include the identifier of the MBMSservice to be suspended. In a user plane, the eNB does not send the dataof the MBMS service to be suspended. For the UE, neither the controlinformation of the MBMS nor the user data of the MBMS is transmitted viathe air interface.

The method described in the fourth embodiment may be used here. By usingthe enhanced procedure of suspending data transmission, the UE maycontinually receive the service originally transmitted via the MBMS.

Thus, the processing at the second embodiment is finished.

A third embodiment is provided.

In the method for obtaining the UE counting result provided by thesecond embodiment, the counting result of the UEs in the RRC connectedmode are obtained firstly, and if the number of the UEs in the RRCconnected mode is smaller than the preset threshold, the counting resultof the UEs in the idle mode are obtained. By using this procedure, theinfluence for the UE is reduced but the time of obtaining the UEcounting result is long. The third embodiment provides another methodfor obtaining the UE counting result as shown in FIG. 5.

At 501, the MCE counts the number of UEs receiving the MBMS service. Theprocedure is different from the existing procedure for obtaining the UEcounting result in which only the UEs in the RRC connected mode areobtained. In this procedure at 501, the UE counting result of both theUEs in the RRC connected mode and in the idle mode are obtained. The MCEsends a UE counting request message to the eNB, and the message includesthe indication information to indicate that the UEs in the idle modeneeds to be counted. The eNB sends the UE counting request message tothe UE, and the message includes the indication information to indicatethat the UEs in the idle mode needs to be counted. The UEs in the idlemode and in the RRC connected mode send the UE counting response to theeNB. The eNB counts the number of the UEs which is in the idle mode andin the RRC connected mode in all cells belongs to the MBSFN area andsends the number of the UEs to the MCE.

At 502, it is determined by the MCE, whether the number of the UEs issmaller than a preset threshold. If the number of the UEs is not smallerthan the preset threshold, the processing at 501 can be performed later,and the number of the UEs in the RRC connected mode and in the idle modeis counted again when necessary.

If the number of the UEs in the RRC connected mode and in the idle modeis smaller than the preset threshold, processing at 503 is performed.

At 503, the MCE decides to suspend the data transmission and sends newMBMS schedule information to the eNB via a message. The message includesa serial number of a modification period. When the modification periodindicated by the serial number starts, the eNB sends the new scheduleinformation to the UE. The new schedule information does not include theidentifier of the MBMS service to be suspended. In a user plane, the eNBdoes not send the data of the MBMS service to be suspended. For the UE,neither the control information of the MBMS nor the UE data of the MBMSis transmitted via the air interface.

The method described in the fourth embodiment may be used here. By usingthe enhanced procedure of suspending data transmission, the UE maycontinually receive the service originally transmitted via the MBMS.

Thus, the processing at the third embodiment is finished.

A fourth embodiment is provided.

The second and third embodiments provide methods for obtaining the UEcounting result which support continuously receiving the GCSE service bythe UE. In the two methods, the procedure of obtaining the UE countingresult is improved, so that the number of the UEs in the RRC connectedmode and in the idle mode is count accurately in the procedure. If theexisting procedure of obtaining the UE counting result rather than theabove methods is used, only the number of the UEs in the RRC connectedmode is counted. When the number of the UEs is smaller than a presetthreshold, the MCE decides to suspend the data transmission. In thisway, if the UE in the idle mode needs to go on receiving the GCSEservice, the UE needs to initiate establishing of a point-to-pointchannel, and data cannot be received by the UE during the establishingprocedure, and thus the continuity requirements of the GCSE servicecannot be satisfied. In addition, the threshold for determining whetherto suspend the data transmission is implementation related. If thethreshold is larger than zero, when a few UEs want to receive theservice and the number of the UEs is smaller than the threshold, the MCEstill suspends the data transmission. Therefore, the above problemexists in the existing procedure for obtaining the UE counting resultand the procedures for obtaining the UE counting result described in thesecond and the third embodiments. Methods provided by this embodimentare used to ensure the requirements of continuously receiving the GCSEservice. The embodiment provides the method for continuously receivingservice data when the MCE suspends the data transmission. As shown inFIG. 6, the method includes the following processing.

At 601, a MCE counts the number of UEs. If the number of the UEs issmaller than a threshold, the MCE initiates a suspend indication messageto an eNB.

The processing for counting the number of the UEs may be performed byusing the processing defined currently, or by using the methodsdescribed in the second or the third embodiments, or by using otherprocessing for obtaining the counting result.

The suspend indication message may be implemented as follows.

In a first method, existing suspension procedure is used. For example,suspend indication information is carried in a MBMS schedulinginformation message. The MBMS scheduling information message definedcurrently includes configuration of a MBMS control channel and contentstransmitted via the control channel, and also includes MCCH update time.The MCCH update time indicates a modification period when new controlinformation starts to be used. According to the present invention, newindication information is included. The new indication informationindicates a MBMS service of which the data transmission is to besuspended. Therefore, the new indication information includes both anidentity of a MBMS service and an indication of that transmission ofservice data is to be suspended. Preferably, time information may beincluded to indicate the modification period from which the datatransmission is suspended. The MCCH update time in the message definedcurrently may be used to indicate the time point from which the datatransmission is suspended.

In a second method, a new message is used. The MCE sends the newmessage, e.g. a suspend indication message to the eNB. The new messageinclude an identifier of a MBMS service of which the data transmissionis to be suspended, and may further include time information forindicating a modification period from which the data transmission issuspended.

After receiving the message sent at 601, the eNB may send a responsemessage to the MCE for acknowledge the receipt of the message sent at601.

At 602, the eNB sends a suspend notification message via an airinterface. The suspend message includes information for indicating theidentifier of MBMS service and may include the time information forindicating the modification period from which the data transmission issuspended. Or, the time information may indicate other time mode, e.g.indicate a SFN from which the data transmission is suspended, orindicate a certain time period after which the data transmission issuspended, the certain time period may be several milliseconds orseveral SFNs. Or the suspend notification message may not include thetime information but include the identifier of the MBMS service. Afterreceiving the suspend notification message by the UE, if the UE needs toreceive the service, processing at 603 is performed.

At 603, the UE needing to receive the service data initiates a procedureof establishing a point-to-point carrier which is the same as theconventional procedure of establishing the point-to-point carrier and isnot described herein.

At 604, the eNB waits for a period of time which is determined accordingto the time indicated by the message sent at 601. When the indicatedtime arrives, the eNB starts to suspend the data transmission of theMBMS service, does not send the control information of suspend MBMSservice via the air interface, and starts to sends new controlinformation, that is, the processing at 605 is performed. The newcontrol information does not include the information of the service thedata transmission of which is to be suspended.

Afterwards, the MCE may initiate a procedure for obtaining the UEcounting result again. When UE data can be sent via the MBMS carrier,the UE receives the control information of the MBMS. The controlinformation includes the identifier of the MBMS service. Here, the UEinitiates a release of the point-to-point carrier and starts to receivethe GCSE service via the MBMS carrier.

Thus, the processing at the fourth embodiment is finished.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining a UE countingresult by a UE. In the above embodiments, protocols are changed toobtain the UE counting result. According to the present invention, theUE may be changed rather than modification the air interface protocols,and the UE in the idle mode sends the UE counting response. As shown inFIG. 7, the UE includes an application layer module 701, a two-layerprotocol module 704, a receiving module 702 and a sending module(transmitting module) 703.

The receiving module 702 is to receive a message from an air interfaceand send the message to the two-layer protocol module 704.

The two-layer protocol module 704 relates to RRC, PDCP, RLC and MACprotocols. The two-layer protocol module 704 is to parse the messagereceived from the air interface. If the message is a UE counting messageof a MBMS service, the two-layer protocol module 704 is to send amessage to the application layer module 701. The application layermodule 701 determines that a service carried by the MBMS is a GCSEservice, and sends a message to the two-layer protocol module 704 toindicate that a RRC connection needs to be established to response theUE counting message. The two-layer protocol module 704 generatesmessages of the air interface, the messages includes messages forestablishing the RRC and a UE counting response message. The two-layerprotocol module 704 sends the messages to an eNB via the sending module703.

Or, the application layer module 701 determines that the GCSE service istransmitted via the MBMS carrier, and sends a message to the two-layerprotocol module 704 to instruct the two-layer protocol module 704 that aRRC connection needs to be established when the UE counting message isreceived so as to response the UE counting message. For example, theapplication layer module 701 sends the two-layer protocol module 704 amessage including an instruction of that the UE needs to response theMBMS UE counting and including an MBMS carrier identifier TMGI. The UEstores the information. After receiving the message from the airinterface, the receiving module 702 sends the message to the two-layerprotocol module 704. The two-layer protocol module 704 relates to theRRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC protocols. If the UE is in the RRC connectedmode, a RRC layer of the UE sends a UE counting response according tothe current protocol. If the UE is in the RRC idle mode, the two-layerprotocol module 704 parses the message received from the air interface.If the message is the UE counting message of the MBMS service, accordingto the above stored information, if it is determined that the MBMS needsthe corresponding MBMS service, the two-layer protocol module 704initiates a procedure of establishing a RRC connection, generatesmessages of the air interface including messages for establishing theRRC. After the RRC connection is established, the two-layer protocolmodule 704 generates a UE counting response message, and sends themessages to the eNB via the sending module 703.

Thus, the processing at the fifth embodiment is finished.

It should be understand that the above are only preferred embodiments ofthe present invention and are not for use in limiting the protectionscope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacementand improvement made within the scope of the present invention should becovered under the protection scope of the present invention.

1. A method for obtaining a UE counting result, comprising: if a UserEquipment (UE) receives a UE counting request message and a servicecorresponding to a service identifier comprised in the UE countingrequest message is a Group Call System Enabler (GCSE) servicetransmitted via a Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS)carrier, establishing, by the UE, a Radio Resource Control (RRC)connection; sending a UE counting response via the RRC connection orsending, by the UE, a RRC establishing message; and configuring a reasonof establishing the RRC as MBMS UE counting.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the UE is in an idle mode.
 3. An apparatus, comprising: areceiving module, a sending module, a two-layer protocol module, and anapplication layer module, wherein: the application layer module isconfigured to, when determining that a Group Call System Enabler (GCSE)service is transmitted via a Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service(MBMS) carrier, instruct the two-layer protocol module to response a UEcounting message; the receiving module is configured to send a receivedUE counting message to the two-layer protocol module; the two-layerprotocol module is configured to at least one of: parse the UE countingmessage, generate a Radio Resource Control (RRC) establishing messageaccording to the instruction of the application layer module, andgenerate a UE counting response after an RRC connection is established;or parse the UE counting message, generate the RRC establishing messageaccording to the instruction of the application layer module, andconfigure a reason of establishing the RRC as MBMS UE counting; and thesending module is configured to send the message generated by thetwo-layer protocol module to over an air interface.
 4. An apparatus,comprising: a receiving module, a sending module, a two-layer protocolmodule, and an application layer module, wherein: the receiving moduleis configured to send a received UE counting message to the two-layerprotocol module; the two-layer protocol module is configured to: parsethe UE counting message; send a service identifier in the UE countingmessage to the application layer module; the application layer module isconfigured to, when determining a service corresponding to the serviceidentifier is a Group Call System Enabler (GCSE) service transmitted viaa Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) carrier, instructthe two-layer protocol module to response the UE counting message; thetwo-layer protocol module is further configured to at least one of:generate a Radio Resource Control (RRC) establishing message accordingto the instruction of the application layer module, and generate a UEcounting response after an RRC connection is established; or generatethe RRC establishing message according to the instruction of theapplication layer module, and configure a reason of establishing the RRCas MBMS UE counting; and the sending module is configured to send themessage generated by the two-layer protocol module over an airinterface.
 5. A method for obtaining a UE counting result, applied forsupporting continuous transmission of a group service, comprising:receiving, by an evolved Node B (eNB), a UE counting request messagecomprising indication information that indicates counting of a number ofUEs in an idle mode is required; sending, by the eNB, the UE countingrequest message comprising the indication information; receiving, by theeNB, a counting response message; and sending, by the eNB, the countingresponse message.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein UE counting resultsof User Equipments (UEs) in an RRC connected mode and an idle mode areobtained; and the counting response message received by the eNB is sentby the UEs in the RRC connected mode and the idle mode.
 7. The method ofclaim 5, wherein UE counting results of UEs in an idle mode areobtained; and the counting response message received by the eNB is sentby the UEs in the idle mode.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein, for theUE in the idle mode, receiving, by the eNB, the counting responsemessage comprises at least one of: receiving a UE counting response viaan established Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection; or receiving anRRC establishing message, a reason of establishing the RRC in the RRCestablishing message being Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service(MBMS) UE counting.
 9. A method for suspending data transmission,applied for supporting continuous transmission of a group service,comprising: receiving, by an evolved Node B (eNB), a message comprisinga suspend indication and a service identifier, the suspend indicationand the service identifier being used to indicate that data transmissionof a service corresponding to the service identifier is to be suspended;sending, by the eNB, the message comprising the suspend indication andthe service identifier; initiating, by a UE needing to continuouslyreceiving service data corresponding to the service identifier, aprocedure of establishing a point-to-point carrier; and stopping, by theeNB, sending the data transmission of the service at a preset timepoint.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the message further comprisestime information indicating at least one of a modification period, aSingle Frequency Network (SFN), or a time point from which the datatransmission is suspended.